Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 115 The Troubles of a Good Work

When Luo Jinnian laid out the adaptation plan for "Stranger Things" on the table, both Director Qin and Director Mo remained silent for a long time.

It's not that the plan is bad, it's that the plan is too good, so good that they need time to digest it.

It digests a genre of dramas that has never appeared in China before: 1980s nostalgia, children's adventure, supernatural suspense, and government conspiracy. These four storylines are intertwined, creating a species that has never appeared on domestic screens before.

If there were a copy of "Charlie IX," they would understand it more easily, but there isn't even a copy of "Charlie IX" in China right now.

After finishing the adapted script for the first episode, Director Qin looked up and asked a very practical question: "What era do you plan to set this in?"

Luo Jinnian said: "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the reform and opening up had just entered its tenth year. People were still living in the state-owned factory compounds, video arcades were just emerging, and people were still riding old-fashioned bicycles in military green work uniforms on the streets. It was an era of believing in science and the system, but also with a strange and superstitious atmosphere. It was both open and closed, both progressive and confused. This story is most suitable for that time."

Director Mo asked, "I see your superpower department is called 749. What are you planning to do with it?"

Luo Jinnian said, "This department actually existed. In the 1970s and 80s, Bureau 749 conducted some research on paranormal abilities, and the files were later sealed. We used it as the core organization of the story—an energy organization that researched paranormal phenomena, with its underground experimental field located in an abandoned factory area in the southwestern mountains. The missing child, the opened crack, and the girl who escaped from the laboratory—all the clues point to Bureau 749."

Director Mo didn't respond immediately after hearing this. He flipped back to read a few more pages of the script, and only put it down after a long while. "I can't film this."

Director Qin looked at him in surprise, and Director Mo said again, "But I should be the one to direct this drama."

Director Mo loves writing good scripts; each vivid character seems to come alive before his eyes.

The main task of casting fell on Luo Jinnian himself.

He had seen the original series, so no one in the world understood each character better than him.

This time, he will be standing in front of the camera.

In his previous works, he always worked behind the scenes, and when he occasionally appeared on set, it was only because people from Early Spring Culture were following up on the project.

This time was different. He had written the script, made an adaptation plan, and found a director. Reality told him: this time, he would be standing in front of the camera again.

He plays the protagonist who discovers the truth. He is not the strongest or the smartest in the group, but he is definitely the most perceptive and suitable to lead the team.

His parents were divorced, he lived with his mother, grew up in a factory compound, and disappeared one day while playing with a good friend. Everyone said, "He may have run away from home."

He was the only one who didn't believe it. Then, on the night of the power outage and rain, he and two other friends met the girl who had escaped from the abandoned site of Bureau 749 near the factory.

Gu Yanxi plays a character with a shaved head, wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown, who cannot speak but has superpowers—he can use his mind to turn off light bulbs and stop fans from spinning.

Unlike Pu Pu in "The Hidden Corner," who is precocious and alert, she is more like a blank sheet of paper, untamed and full of fear and curiosity about the world.

After reading the script, Gu Yanxi stated a fact: "A character who can't speak normally is much harder to play than a character who can speak." Luo Jinnian asked, "So, are you going to play the role?" She said, "I will."

"I believe you can act well."

"Yeah, me too."

When Chu Qingning learned that Luo Jinnian wanted her to act in the play herself, she wasn't too surprised. After hearing him say that she would be doing it herself this time, she asked curiously after a while, "Can I watch you act from the sidelines?"

Luo Jinnian agreed.

He's not a cowardly lizard; he can't just be watched. If he doesn't perform well, the girl's guidance will greatly benefit the crew.

The casting of the other children was conducted nationwide.

The casting director traveled to several cities, spending over a month at children's palaces, art schools, and community choirs, and finally found three children who had never acted before but were captivating on camera—the one playing the fat boy was named Tao Xiaole, an interesting name, but likely a stage name; the one playing the bookish boy with gap-toothed teeth was named Zhou Mingyuan; and the one playing the cautious and suspicious boy who disappeared at the beginning was named Sun Lei.

They were all ordinary students with no acting experience, but Director Mo followed Luo Jinnian's instructions and emphasized that the most important thing was not acting skills but spirituality.

Moreover, there are no suitable child stars in China, so training them from scratch and signing them is a worthwhile endeavor.

The filming location was an abandoned factory area on the edge of the Sichuan Basin.

There is a complete 1980s building complex, from red brick buildings and old auditoriums to rusted iron gates, as well as an abandoned underground air-raid shelter that has been converted into the entrance to the underground laboratory of Bureau 749.

The art department spent two months transforming this place into what the show required. They rusted and dismantled the basketball hoops on the playground and repaired them. The slogan "Develop sports" can still be faintly seen on the wall.

The corridors in the staff dormitory building still retain the original green walls and wooden window frames.

There are still a few video arcades and supply and marketing cooperative signs in the nearby neighborhood that haven't been removed. With a little renovation, it would look like a street scene from the early 1990s.

The art team leader wrote in the location scouting report: "A natural place for storytelling—but perfecting it will cost a lot of money."

Director Mo waved his hand and said, "As long as it's a quality issue, the production team has no shortage of money."

Luo Jinnian stood on the playground in the factory area. The sunlight stretched his shadow very short, and the ground was so hot that it felt like it was burning.

Not far away, several children dressed in theatrical costumes were chasing and playing in a corner.

Gu Yanxi, with her hair shaved extremely short, stood under the shade of a tree drinking a bottle of water. Her expression was calm, as if she had already gotten used to her new hairstyle.

The casting director brought in the information on the third batch of candidates. Luo Jinnian flipped through it, picked out a few suitable candidates and put them aside, then returned the rest to the director.

Director Qin stood by the playground smoking, while Director Mo squatted in front of the camera adjusting settings.

Chu Qingning moved a folding chair and sat in the shade not far away, holding a sketchbook and drawing something with her head down, occasionally glancing up.

No one urged her.

They are all waiting.

Luo Jinnian stood on the playground, listening to the old factory broadcasts coming from afar, preparing to go inside.

The foundation for Stranger Things was being laid smoothly, but Luo Jinnian was still not at ease. To be precise, he felt this way about every work that was about to be brought to this world—he liked it and wanted to present it as perfectly as possible.

Only he himself knew this worry.

It can also be understood as the struggle of a good work.